October 28, 2003

Oba!

This is, by far, the most overbearing service I've ever experienced in a restaurant. Worse, the waiter wasn't necessarily there when we needed him. We were seated in the back dining room, and I was facing the door. Every few minutes, one of the staff would come in and look through the door--often making me feel quite self-conscious as they were staring in our direction. This may not sound so bad, but by few minutes, I mean about two. There was a constant whirling of waitstaff, and most of them seemed to be doing nothing. Oh, and the ~best~ part? Our waiter kept touching me. Twice, he put his hand on my back in a condescending manner. I know it's picky of me, but I really don't care to be touched--without my consent--by strangers, and at a restaurant, this is a standard no-no.

But wait, there's more. The food absolutely sucked. The steak was cooked properly, but that's as far as it goes. Once my craving for red meat was satisfied after a few bites, this gristly chunk of meat wasn't worth finishing. Bill's risotto was undercooked, featuring chunks of nearly raw carrot. Other than that, he said it was more or less flavorless.

Oba! is the very definition of trendy: someplace the middle class go because they think rich people might be there. It was too dark, too stark, too loud, and massively overpriced.